She Takes His Hand
by til.chapter.three
Summary: The last time they saw each other, Rey told Kylo Ren that she did want to take his hand, but only if it was Ben Solo reaching out to her. Now, they are in the wake of the aftermath after their strenuous fight with the long thought dead Palpatine and Ben had been thrown off a cliff and Rey lays on the ground cold and motionless. What happens now?


**This is a fix-it fanfiction of The Rise of Skywalker and based on my post on Tumblr where I thought that it would have been really cool if Ben Solo didn't die and Rey finally took his hand. This also focuses on the re-edited ending or the ending that everyone thought the original was supposed to be because it fits better.**

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Ben lifted his hand up and with great effort, managed to pull himself out of the hole Palpatine had just thrown him into. He attempted to stand up, but failed and crashed back to the ground. He was weak. His life force severely drained, but none of that mattered. He had to get to Rey.

He looked up from the ground and saw her lying still too far in front of him. He attempted to stand again and this time succeeded. It was not easy at all to walk. He was stumbling and trying to keep himself upright with his arm clasped around his waist. Rey was the only thing in his sights, he would worry about the destruction and how to get out of here later. He just needed to get to her.

He slowly stumbled his way to her side and finally crashed down onto his knees as he saw her lying there, lifeless with his mother and his uncle's lightsabers by her side. He crawled over to her and laid himself on top of her so he could grip her in his arms. He then hefted her up as he sat up with her cradled in his arms and when he looked down at the girl in his arms, all he saw was her open, dead eyes staring back at him.

Rey was dead. His Rey was dead. He knew that something had happened when he was down in that pit. He felt something in the bond that they shared snap, but he couldn't come to terms with it. All he could focus on was getting back to her, but he was too late. He had turned too late. He had come to her side too late. He looked around through the desolation looking for someone, anyone who could help her. There was no one there and he knew it. It was just him and her.

Ben took the hand that was cradling her head and pushed it up so he could embrace her in his arms. He crushed Rey to his chest, holding back tears that he knew would start falling. Was there nothing he could do? He was willing to do anything to bring back this girl who saw the good in him when it seemed like no one else did. She was the last person in the galaxy who cared about him even if it was just the littlest bit and she had been ripped away from him.

Then he remembered what she did for him. She had healed him. Even when they were on opposing forces, even when, yes, it was she who had hurt him. She did it because she had cared. And he could at least try to do it for her now. He hadn't been back in the light all that long although Rey would have said he had never left. He could only hope that it would be enough.

He brought her back down into his lap and with a deep breath, placed the hand that wasn't cradling her head onto her abdomen. He closed his eyes and started to dive back into the force using all the strength he had left. He had never force healed someone before. He hadn't even learned how to do it. But there was something there, something powerful resting within his soul. A tether to another soul, one almost too far out of reach. He reached for it and started pouring the rest of his into the body that laid before him. It was his sole focus: bringing Rey back. It had to work. It couldn't not work. Ben, in no way, shape, or form, could ever imagine a world where this girl didn't exist. He didn't know how long it would take, but he would sit here forever or until all of the rest of his own life force had been spent. But then, he felt a hand lay rest upon his own.

His eyes flew open and he looked at Rey and when he did, he actually saw her looking right back at him. Her eyes blinked a couple times before she looked at him again with shock, awe, and a little bit of something else. She sat up and her hand rested on his shoulder as she looked at him in the eyes. They gazed into each other's eyes, but Ben felt himself growing even weaker as the seconds passed.

Ben was trying to take her in as much as possible, scared of when the moment would come when he would be taken away.

"Ben," he heard Rey whisper and all he saw after that was her glance of fear as he was overcome with darkness and he fell backwards.

Rey grasped his neck and helped lower him to the ground as to not hit his head. Her mind was wheeling with the events that had just passed. She didn't know how long she had been out for. She knew that she had died and that Ben had brought her back to life. She gazed down at him as tears started spilling over her cheeks. No, no, no! They couldn't have him. They hadn't had any time together to figure things out between them. It wasn't fair. Give him the chance to prove himself. He deserved it! They deserved it!

All she wanted was to do what he had done for her, but she knew she couldn't. She was weak and had just come back to life. Either she died trying to do it, or she died again in order to bring him back to life. She wouldn't waste his sacrifice doing that because she knew he would try to do it again and they would both end up dead trying to bring the other back to life. Tears rolled down her face and she felt something in the force that got her attention.

"Leia," she whispered. She knew it was Leia, but Leia was dead. She had died just a few hours ago. However, Rey knew it was Leia's force pulsing around her and Ben. And suddenly, she knew Leia had become one with the force. In that exact moment, Rey turned her eyes towards Ben and saw them flutter open once again.

Rey smiled at him and helped him sit up to face her. Ben was shocked that he had been given the chance to gaze upon her beautiful face again. They just looked at each other for a couple seconds before Rey couldn't handle it anymore and she pulled his face to hers as their lips met for the first time. Ben could feel Rey's wet cheeks against his, but all he could focus on were her soft, plush lips. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into him.

Rey pulled away to look at him again, leaving her hands to rest on his cheeks. They looked at each other and Rey finally got to see Ben smile for the first time. It was a beautiful sight and she never wanted to see him without it again. She rubbed her thumb over the corner of his mouth and he pulled her into his embrace. She nestled her head into the crook of his neck and started crying again. One of his hands went into her hair and the other one rubbed her back as he soothed her.

"We're alive, Rey. It's going to be okay," Ben whispered into her ear. She just clinged to him tighter and they both just sat there, reveling in each others warmth. He turned his head so that he could press a kiss to the top of her head and she finally moved back off of him.

She wiped at her eyes before saying, "We need to get out of here."

A smile came across Ben's face again as he said, "That we do, sweetheart."

He braced himself, making sure he was strong enough, before standing up before her. She gazed up at him as he reached his hand out in front of her, just like he had before, in expectation.

"You said you wouldn't take Kylo Ren's hand. You said that the hand you wanted to take was Ben Solo's," he said with a hit of nervousness, Rey saw, "So, here I am, now as Ben Solo once again asking if you would please join me as we find our new place in the world."

Rey just stared at him before a smile ran across her face as well and she finally slipped her hand into his. He pulled her up from the ground to face him and she looked right into his eyes as she said, "I thought you would never ask."

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**Sorry this was kind of rushed, but I hope you enjoyed! If you liked this, let me know because I am really thinking about doing a little continuation of this where I do the epilogue as well!**

**Check me out on Tumblr too to see the original post .com**


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